Gavin Monfort
Gavin Monfort is a character from the Medieval game universe, though he did not appear in the game itself. He is an elf, and served as the knight-master of Sieg Braham during Sieg's squire training. He is the second in command of the Nid'aigle company, under Anri Hasek.Category:Medieval charactersCategory:Non-game charactersCategory:Nid'aigle Characters Backstory Gavin was born in an Elven city in Elacs called Miel Doux. Unlike Nid'aigle, which was at that time already allied with the Jades and maintained it's own force of knights, Miel Doux kept itself strictly isolated from human society and refused to build up a standing army. Their defense came in the form of mages, who put up shields and wards all around the city. Gavin was one of these mages, born with a fairly potent gift for magic. During a time about four hundred and fifty years before the present, a territorial skirmish broke out between the southernmost parts of what would eventually become Elacs and the empire of Courdon. Miel Doux was right in the path of the fighting, and while it's shields had held against small bands of raiders they could not hope to hold out against a full sized war party. The city fell before the Courdonian advances, and almost all of it's citizens were taken captive- Gavin among them. Because of the circumstances of his capture, there wasn't time to try and condition Gavin to be unable to use his powers, and at the time the suppression collars used in Courdon in the modern times hadn't been invented yet. As such, it was decided to try and disable the mage so he couldn't lash out at his captors by feeding him magesbane. This compound normally affected a mage by completely disabling their abilities and making it painful to even try using them. However, it had never been tested on elves before, and it had an unexpected reaction when used on Gavin. Not only did it disable his powers, it gave him a constant debilitating headache, extreme photosensitivity in his eyes, and a painful rash across most of his skin. Stopping the dosage did nothing to alleviate his suffering. These symptoms rendered him effectively useless as a slave, and thus the Courdonians saw no point in keeping Gavin around. They abandoned him, naked and bound, expecting the elf who was already half-insane from the pain of his symptoms to die of exposure. However, Gavin managed to keep himself alive by sheer stubborn willpower, dragging himself through the wilderness until he found sympathetic Kythians who took him in. These Kythians managed to get him to the elvish city in Corvus, Nid'aigle, where he was given urgent medical treatment that finally cured him of the debilitating side-effects of the magesbane. However, Gavin was left permanently unable to access his magic. He no longer had the strength to do anything but call a weak light. Desperate to find something to do with his life where he felt like he was making himself useful and helping in some way, he trained to eventually become a knight in Nid'aigle. Little is known about Gavin's life between when he joined the knights and the main timeline. He's old, and has seen a lot. At some point his talents and even temper saw him promoted to lieutenant, or second in command of the Nid'iagle company. When the previous commander retired Gavin was offered his position, but turned it down, and Anri Hasek was made commander instead. Gavin is known to have been something of a father-figure to all the members of the company. Noticing the mental and emotional distress of Belial Braham in particular, Gavin insinuated himself into the younger elf's life and made a point to be a friend to him. Belial came to trust Gavin, and even after Belial's recovery and marriage to his wife Morgaine, Gavin remained a close friend of the Braham family. Eventually, when Belial's son Sieg was made into a squire at age sixteen, Gavin decided to train the boy in the ways of knighthood. However, before Sieg was assigned his first mission, the elves heard word of a massive dragon that had gone insane and was killing and eating humans from Corvid villages. Gavin, with prior experience in dragon slaying, was assigned to the mission, as was Belial, who was deadly with range weapons like spears and javelins that would be particularly effective against the dragon. And to both their horrors, Sieg was assigned to the mission was well, both as Gavin's squire and as a translator for parlaying with the human forces in the battle. Gavin tried to argue with Anri, saying Sieg was far too young and inexperienced to be involved in such a fight. Anri, however, pointed out that her hands were tied. With the recent end of the Second Langean War, the elves had lost a sizable chunk of their forces, and they badly needed every available translator. Gavins warnings proved prophetic. The dragon trapped Sieg and several other knights under a mountain of flaming debris for several hours and killed Belial. Sieg was left heartbroken and devastated by this turn of events, heavily traumatized and guild-ridden. Gavin, as Sieg's knight-master and a friend of his father, took it upon himself to see to Sieg's recovery. He gently nursed him through his now phobic fear of fire, gave him exercises to help build his confidence, and encouraged him to do things that were fun just for the joy of it, to remind him that life wasn't all bleakness and despair. Gavin also bought Sieg his horse Freya, who would become a close friend to the young man and go a long way towards helping in his recovery. Eventually Sieg was knighted, but he still insisted on addressing Gavin as "Master" out of gratitude for all the knight had taught him and all that Gavin had done to help in his recovery. Gavin still lived in Nid'aigle and served as second-in-command of their knight company at the time of Starmey's death. He is the longest serving knight in the company, a father to his men and a gentle soul through and through. Participated * Chains of Command - Shortly after the death of Belial during a fight against a massive dragon, Gavin confronts his commander about a string of poor decisions leading up to the fight. * Lost to Time - Gavin is helping his squire Sieg to recover from the worst of the pyrophobia he had developed as consequence of his traumatic experiences during the dragon fight. When the agree to stop for the day, Gavin reveals he can call light with magic, and at Sieg's questioning the old elf reveals his backstory. * Flesh and Blood: Part One - Gavin appears at the beginning of the story, speaking to Sieg about the impending visit of Sieg's friend Leif Jade and Leif's brother Markus to the elf city. * Flesh and Blood: Part Two - Gavin is practicing at the training yard for the Nid'aigle company, and watches Sieg spar with Markus. * Flesh and Blood: Part Four - After disappearing and being presumed dead in part three, it is revealed that, by some dark magic, Gavin has been transformed into puma. Perplexed by this, but relieved that he's still alive, Sieg, Leif, and Markus decide that the best thing to do is to mindlink Sieg and Gavin with magic so that they can pull from the elf-turned-puma what happened. * Flesh and Blood: Part Five - After establishing the mindlink and getting Anri in on the fun, the gang learns the true nature of their enemy... * Flesh and Blood: Part Six - Gavin tries to help save the group when they accidentally blunder into an ambush, but unable to coordinate his puma body he finds himself more a hindrance than a help. * Flesh and Blood: Part Seven - When Sieg is attacked by a magically summoned snake, Leif doesn't know what potion to give the half-elf, who might have an allergy to something that works for humans. Leif mindlinks with Gavin to ask him for help, and in the process the archmage gets to hear their adversary's voice through Gavin for the first time. * Flesh and Blood: Part Eight - Gavin accompanies Leif to watch the archmage create some holy water to help them fight their enemies. The blood mage speaks again, presenting Gavin with a horrific vision that Leif sees through the mindlink. Leif is almost pushed into an overload, but Gavin manages to snap him out of it just in time. * Flesh and Blood: Part Nine - The group finally confronts the blood mage directly, but in the process he is able to get control over Gavin. Sieg and Markus are forced to fight Gavin, while Leif fights a losing battle against the blood mage. * Flesh and Blood: Part Ten - Markus is able to snap Gavin out of his brainwashing, and the elf distracts the blood mage long enough to give the others an opening to defeat him. Then, using a trick they discovered in defeating the mage, the group is able to lift the spell on Gavin and turn him into an elf once more. * Flesh and Blood: Epilogue - After all has settled back down, Gavin decides to visit Markus and Leif one final time before they leave Nid'aigle and bid them a personal farewell. He also gives each of them a gift as thanks for helping to stop the skinwalker- Markus is given an elven forged sword, and Leif is given an elven bred aplomado falcon named Ambre. Personality Gavin is a very sweet old man, patient, encouraging and supportive almost to a fault. If you earn his friendship, you have someone you can rely on for the rest of your life. He is funny and easygoing, able to get even the most serious of people to lighten up and have fun every so often. Because of his experiences in life he has a lot of empathy for those who have endured great suffering. His patience allows him to support those people, helping them to work through their problems without judgement or frustration. Very rarely does he become truly angry, but hurting the people he cares about is a good way to carry this off. Having lost everyone he ever cared about once before, Gavin is very protective of those he is close to in the present. Relationships Anri Hasek Though initially their relationship was a bit rocky- Anri somewhat resented Gavin for what she saw as his refusal to take up the Command post she felt he had a responsibility towards- over time the two have developed a mutual understanding and comradery. Gavin is Anri's closest friend and most trusted confidant, and he in turn feels a mixture of paternal protectiveness towards her, mixed with a very comfortable closeness. Though the commander is usually fairly uptight, their relationship is such that in quiet moments Anri and Gavin can be seen very openly leaning on one another, completely platonically, and thinking nothing of it. Belial Braham As a young boy, Belial was fascinated by human culture, and it led him to vastly underestimate the mental and emotional demands that being a knight would have on the psyche of an elf. Having to fight and kill constantly traumatized the poor man, leaving him quiet and introverted. Seeing this, Gavin insinuated himself into Belial's life, gradually eroding his mental walls and winning the young elf's trust. Over the years the two of them remained good friends, with Gavin giving Belial someone to turn to when he needed a strong anchor for his own battered spirit. After Belial became a family man, Gavin remained close to both him and the other Brahams, occasionally visiting and playing with the little ones when he had time off. They related far better as equals rather once Belial's emotional health recovered, and Gavin even began secretly grooming his friend to take over as Lieutenant when he retired. Belial's death was a harsh blow for Gavin, and he mourned very deeply. Sieg Braham After Belial's death, Gavin more or less stepped into the role of mentor and father-figure for Sieg. He helped him to recover from his traumas, taught him how to be a knight, and how to be a good man in general. Sieg has a very great deal of respect for Gavin, often expressing that he does not feel worthy of the help the old elf has offered him. Gavin insists that Sieg absolutely deserves all the help and support that his master can offer, and expresses the utmost faith that Sieg will become a great man given time. Leif Jade Gavin was initially surprised to learn that his old squire had befriended the Jade archmage, but upon seeing Leif himself he came to understand how- the two men shared a snarky sense of humor and a certain amount of dorkiness that amused Gavin and endeared the Jade to him. Later on, when things went horribly wrong, Leif was the one to deduce that the strangely docile puma was in fact Gavin, and to set up a way for him to communicate with the others, earning the elven Lieutenant's gratitude. Over the course of the adventure Gavin noted Leif's protective nature towards his brother, Sieg, and Leif's kite Ayleth, which further elevated him in Gavin's estimation. Considering he already liked the archmage, it was little surprise that Leif's self-doubt and insecurities over his ability to create holy water later on during the adventure would trigger Gavin's paternal instincts, and motivate him to try and soothe Leif's nerves. Gavin was surprised by Leif's gratitude when the elf managed to snap Leif out of a near sensory overload, but once Sieg had explained to him later about Leif's youth and the pain he'd endured from his archmage blocks, Gavin- who had himself experienced tremendous debilitating pain when he was much younger- felt tremendously sorry for him and grateful that he was able to do prevent Leif from reliving it. All in all, Gavin recognizes that Leif is a man who has experienced a lot of hardship, and at one point came close to the point of snapping under the strain- but has rebuilt himself with the help of his friends and loved ones, including Sieg. Gavin respects Leif a great deal for his resilience, loyalty, and basic goodness of spirit, and could not wish for a better friend for his former squire. He hopes to one day meet the archmage again, hopefully under better circumstances, and see how time and life tempers him in the years to come. Markus Accipiter Gavin's first encounter with Markus was when the knight had a practice fight with Sieg at the Nid'aigle Company's base. He was fairly impressed by the man's skill, and curious about his use of an assumed name (something that Gavin and Anri saw right through, considering that as commanders of the company they were in frequent contact with the outside world and kept close tabs on the Accipiter family by virtue of their close proximity.) Over the course of their time together during the events of Flesh and Blood, Gavin was impressed by Markus' intelligence and pragmatism, which helped to temper Sieg's over-focus on protecting his friends and Leif's more idealistic viewpoint. Of all the group, Markus kept his cool the most consistently, often advised necessary caution, but also pushed against the reluctance of the others when risks needed to be taken. Apart from a long-time commanding officer's respect for a good soldier, however Gavin also liked what he saw of Markus as a person. The Curys knight's sense of humor, friendliness, and acknowledgement of and apology for his family's many issues made it impossible for Gavin not to like him. In the final battle against the blood mage, it was Markus who snapped Gavin out of his brainwashing by calling out to the elf with his real name, something that Gavin feels deeply indebted to Markus for. As with Leif, Gavin would greatly like the chance to meet Markus again someday.Category:Corvids